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Mac noobie - where did my icon go?!

K

kiwishake

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 13, 2009
11
0
Hi all,

and sorry for this. I just got my first ever Mac today (the 2.4 MBP) and I just love it. But this being my first ever Mac, I'm more than unfamiliar with the interface etc. Sooo... My problem is that I lost my Photobooth?! I mean, I dragged it from Finder to the Dock (I thought this is the way to create a shortcut for the dock) but then it disappeared from the Finder application list. I tried dragging the Photobooth to the desktop, but it disappeared?? And now I can't find it anywhere, not in the dock / finder, nowhere. What happened, where is it and how do I get it back?

Thanks for helping out a noob.
 
By 'application list', do you mean that you dragged it from the panel on the left hand side of the Finder window?

If so, don't fret because that was just an alias. the application itself is in your Apps folder under the hard drive. You can drag that into your Dock, and back into the Finder window side panel if you want too.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
By 'application list', do you mean that you dragged it from the panel on the left hand side of the Finder window?

If so, don't fret because that was just an alias. the application itself is in your Apps folder under the hard drive. You can drag that into your Dock, and back into the Finder window side panel if you want too.
Click to expand...

Yeah I opened the Finder and clicked applications on the left side and from there dragged the icon to the dock. Then I apparently deleted the alias from the dock but the original application is nowhere to be seen, not even when I click on the HD icon on the desktop and search the applications?!
 
Are you sure it's definitely not in your Apps folder, the one in the main window when you double click on the hard drive on your Desktop?

I ask because reading your OP, I see you're spelling it as Photobooth – there's actually a space in there (it's Photo Booth) so searching for it without the space wouldn't yield any results.
 
Yeah I've searched with Photobooth and Photo Booth, neither yielding any results. The application folder has a big blank hole where Photo Booth used to be before I messed it up. Search finds no photo booth application, only the folder with photos taken in PB.
 
Did you maybe accidentally drag it into one of the folders that are on the Dock by default? Document, Downloads, and Trash? Check those just in case, as well.

Search might not yield anything or it might be slow if the drive has not been indexed yet.

Also, just in case you missed the dock, and the app is now moved on the Desktop, close any Finder windows and click anywhere on the desktop and go to the View menu and arrange it (by anything, name, size, whatever) to see if it comes up under your Macintosh HD icon.
 
Ok I checked everything, all of the above and no results. How the hell is this possible? I mean, dragging it from the application folder to the dock only creates a shortcut, right? So even if I lose the alias, the original should still be in place? But it's not. It's not in the app folder or anywhere else. Not in the trash or any other folder. Search doesn't find it. Should I just re-install it from the CD I got with the mbp? (Does it contain Photo Booth and can I install softwares one by one?)

Thanks!
 
kiwishake said:
Ok I checked everything, all of the above and no results. How the hell is this possible? I mean, dragging it from the application folder to the dock only creates a shortcut, right? So even if I lose the alias, the original should still be in place? But it's not. It's not in the app folder or anywhere else. Not in the trash or any other folder. Search doesn't find it. Should I just re-install it from the CD I got with the mbp? (Does it contain Photo Booth and can I install softwares one by one?)

Thanks!
Click to expand...

True, dragging it into the Dock just creates an alias of that in the Dock, and leaves the app in its original place. However, if somehow you accidentally missed the Dock than you would have actually moved the app itself.

There are other ways to add an icon to the Dock, which involves opening the app, and then either right clicking OR left-click holding till a menu appears and selecting, Keep in Dock; OR opening an app and then moving its Dock icon to any other position in the Dock, which will then keep it there.

I think Photo Booth is one of those apps that is included in the basic system install, however, you should be able to insert the system disk and navigate through installs (right clicking an installer package will let you Show Package Contents and explore individual packages to isntall, bypassing the main package wanting to isntall everything), or try an app called Pacifist which does the same and more.

http://www.charlessoft.com/
 
Yeah I did miss the dock on the first try and the app fell on the desktop - does this mean that the app was actually moved and when I deleted the what I thought to be an alias, I actually deleted the whole app?
 
Wow ok... So... How do I get it back? :D Is it possible to get back deleted stuff?
 
No, have no backup HD. But I did manage it with the Pacifist - wohoo! Thank you so much for the help! :) I'm now just a happy new MBP owner, no one needs to know about this little episode.. :cool:
 
Try Pacifist...

madog said:
I think Photo Booth is one of those apps that is included in the basic system install, however, you should be able to insert the system disk and navigate through installs (right clicking an installer package will let you "Show Package Contents" and explore individual packages to install, bypassing the main package wanting to install everything), or try an app called Pacifist which does the same and more.

http://www.charlessoft.com/
Click to expand...
 
kiwishake said:
No, have no backup HD. But I did manage it with the Pacifist - wohoo! Thank you so much for the help! :) I'm now just a happy new MBP owner, no one needs to know about this little episode.. :cool:
Click to expand...

Know about what? Who are you and why are posting here? What are you talking about?!?!
 
kiwishake said:
No, have no backup HD. But I did manage it with the Pacifist - wohoo! Thank you so much for the help! :) I'm now just a happy new MBP owner, no one needs to know about this little episode.. :cool:
Click to expand...

One thing that will help you out in the future is to notice that if an item on the desktop is indeed actually an alias, there will be a little arrow at the bottom left of the icon pointing toward the icon. Just a little visual reminder that it is an alias rather than a standard item. ;)
 
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